Ramdev flays government for turning blind eye to corruption

Lucknow, Oct 30 (IANS) Claiming to have launched a war against corruption, yoga guru Swami Ramdev Saturday trained his guns on the central government for allegedly turning a blind eye to rampant corruption in the administration.

“I am a marked man simply because I have been raising the issue of corruption in high places. My life is in danger, it is simply because I have been taking the bull by its horns for which I have no regrets,” he told a press conference here.

Holding the central government responsible for inaction against corruption, he said: “I am terribly disappointed with the central government’s passive attitude towards corruption. Let me declare here that if anything happens to me, the central government would be solely responsible for it.”

Dismissing the theory that corruption was a “social menace”, he said it was “a misnomer created by the people in power and the fact remains that corruption is a political problem which travels from the top”.

Claiming that he has a ready solution to contain the corruption menace, Ramdev suggested a three-point formula.

“I am strongly of the view that demonetisation of high currency notes like Rs.1,000, Rs.500 and perhaps even Rs.100 could bring down levels of corruption and bribery to a large extent,” he said.

“The second requirement is to bring a new legislation whereby corruption is made punishable with death penalty,” he added.

“And last, but not the least, the government needs to take necessary steps to retrieve India’s black money that is stashed in Swiss Bank and other foreign banks,” he pointed out.

“Mind you, with all the black money coming back to the country, I can assure you India will become economically as strong as the US,” he added.

Even as he alleged that the corporate sector was hand-in-glove with politicians and bureaucrats who were jointly plundering the system, Ramdev’s programme was hosted by a well-known business house.

Earlier in the day, he inaugurated the 10th annual show of a Bonsai Club sponsored by the same business house.